Authority & Credibility:

• Is the author listed or is the article not signed or anonymous?
• Is the author a well known authority on the topic covered? Has the article been cited by other authors (use a citation index)?
• Are the author’s credentials listed?
• Search the catalog and periodical databases to determine what else the author has written, or look up the author in the Gale Biography in Context database
• Locate reviews of books written by the author (if there are any)
• Look at the periodical itself: Is the publisher an organization, publishing house, vanity press, or university press?
• University presses tend to publish books or journals with articles who are recognized experts in their fields
• Look at the publisher’s website

Purpose, Objectivity, Point of View, Bias:

• What is the purpose of the article? (Editorial, book / entertainment / product review, literature review, interview, research report, case study)
• Who is the audience for the periodical? (age, level of education, specific profession, political affiliation, religion, special interests?)
• Look at the cover, illustrations, and advertisements
• Is there evidence of bias or propaganda?

Accuracy & Reliability:

• Do the facts in other sources support the facts presented in the article?
• Is the writing clear and free of grammatical and typographical errors?
• What evidence of research is provided? Look for references or a bibliography / works cited, endnotes or footnotes.
• Are the sources for statistics and facts documented so you can verify them in another source? (It’s a good idea to do this)
• Are quotations attributed to named people?
• Is there evidence of bias or propaganda?
• What are the author(s) research methods?
• Did the article undergo peer review?

Coverage:

• What is the focus of the article? Does it cover the topic adequately or do you need additional resources to fill in the gaps?
• Does the article offer local, regional, national, or international coverage of the topic?

Currency & Timeliness:

• Check the publication date. Have events occurred since the publication that require additional research?
• Is the article a classic or core work in the field? If so, the publication date may not matter.

Appropriateness / Suitability:

• Is the source suitable for the assignment’s criteria?
• Is the source suitable for college-level research?
• Is the source able to be understood? (In English? Technical jargon?)